When communicating with a person who has just experienced a traumatic event or been informed of life changing information the experience of the victim needs to be understood on a personal level. “Thus we need to do more than merely change places or stand in another person’s shoes. We need to get inside the head and heart of the other, to participate in his or her experience as if we were really the other person. This process may be referred to as perspective taking.” (Bennett, 1966) Being able to let go of one’s own experience and allowing the mind to see life through another’s view can be difficult yet it can give one the ability to empathize with others and experience events from a different point of view.
When communicating with a person who has just experienced a traumatic event or been informed of life changing information the experience of the victim needs to be understood on a personal level. “Thus we need to do more than merely change places or stand in another person’s shoes. We need to get inside the head and heart of the other, to participate in his or her experience as if we were really the other person. This process may be referred to as perspective taking.” (Bennett, 1966) Being able to let go of one’s own experience and allowing the mind to see life through another’s view can be difficult yet it can give one the ability to empathize with others and experience events from a different point of view.